Today we have a very special Fashion Flashback. 
It is from ten years ago today. 
When there was a big announcement at St. James’s Palace. 
Prince William and Kate Middleton revealed they were engaged to be married.
It was a very big deal. Below you see some of the satellite trucks outside Buckingham Palace. 
The announcement was in the State Apartments at St. James’s Palace. 
Not a small venue. 
The couple was beaming. 
During the photocall, the Prince revealed he proposed during a trip to Kenya when the couple spent several weeks at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. 
Another view of the twosome. 
And the official release from Clarence House.
Of course, the Duchess was wearing that iconic blue dress by Issa London.
Here is how the ‘Sapphire London’ dress was described.
The classic Issa wrap dress in royal blue is the ultimate wardrobe staple, taking you from day to evening with ease. This ultra-flattering shape with V cross front neckline and long sleeves is belted at the waist and sits just above the knee. Fabricated in the brands’ signature silk jersey.
The fabric is a silk knit with a little stretch that is very comfortable when worn, according to friends. The designer had no idea Kate was wearing the dress. More from this Elle story:
….Helayel recalls: ‘That morning I’d gone to yoga as usual, and then I got a call from a friend telling me about the royal engagement. It was all very exciting.
‘We didn’t have a TV at the studio and this was pre-Instagram, but we soon knew Kate was wearing Issa because at four o’clock the phones began ringing and didn’t stop. It was bonkers,’ she adds.
With sales doubling following the appearance of Middleton in her dress design, Helayel reveals she didn’t have the money to finance production on such a mass sale to meet demand.
Ultimately Ms. Helayel sold a portion of the label and then left the company altogether. House of Fraser bought the rights to the name and now offers a small collection of pieces.
One of the more most talked about elements of the day’s news was the engagement ring, a 12-carat oval blue Ceylon sapphire surrounded by fourteen solitaire diamonds, made by Garrard. It is the engagement ring chosen by Lady Diana Spencer when she was engaged to the Prince of Wales. 
Back to William and Kate in this Vogue piece:
…in a rustic cabin at the foot of Mt. Kenya, Prince William pulled something out of a knapsack. He’d traveled around Africa with it for weeks, nervous as hell, because “I knew if this thing disappeared, I’d be in a lot of trouble.”
He said: “It’s my mother’s engagement ring. So I thought it was quite nice because obviously, she’s not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all; this was my way of keeping her sort of close to it all. It’s very special to me, as Kate’s very special to me now, it is only right to put the two together.” 
In addition to The Ring, Kate wore jewelry by Elsa Peretti for Tiffany, a Sapphires by the Yard necklace and earrings. 
The necklace featured an oval sapphire cabochon with two round diamonds. The earrings also had cabochon stones with a bezel-set diamond at the top. The Color by the Yard collection is still carried at Tiffany., but the settings have changed. Below left, a sapphire By the Yard necklace ($3600) in platinum; on the right, a By the Yard version with emeralds set in 18k gold.
We saw the earrings again during the Canada tour. 
Kate wore a pair of black suede pumps by Episode, a brand sold only at House of Fraser. The style was called the ‘Angel,’ and it featured a small platform and almond toe. 
Where were you when you learned of the engagement?
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On a related note, I am excited to announce next year’s What Kate Wore calendar is a special tenth-anniversary edition. 
As with previous calendars, we are fortunate to have worked with award-winning royal photographer Mark Stewart. Below, one of Mark’s photos featured in the calendar.
In the special edition calendar, we cover Kate’s early style. 
Royal tours…
And the Cambridge family. 
It was challenging to put together only because it is such a large body of work to choose from! Featuring Mark’s work is a delight, as he has covered the couple since the early days of their relationship. Below, Mark in Bhutan during the 2016 tour. 
Mark says:
It has been great fun collaborating yet again with Susan and Kevin on this year’s What Kate Wore Calendar which celebrates the 10th wedding anniversary of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It has been a huge privilege to travel around the world with TRHs and I hope you enjoy this selection of images which show Kate from Home Counties girl to wife, mother and future Queen.
The calendar is available for preordering, with shipping expected to start in ten days to two weeks. Kevin put together a quick video with some of our previous calendars.
And here are videos from the engagement announcement. The first is one the Royal Family released of the photocall.
The second is the interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby. Below, the full 17-minute clip.
Andie
Monday 30th of November 2020
Feels like just yesterday. Wonderful memory. Thank you for the beautiful post, Susan.
Caroline A.
Wednesday 18th of November 2020
I found it interesting that the dress that Catherine wore had some elements that appear to be in common with those in the dress worn by The Queen, (then Princess Elizabeth), for her engagement photos. (Link below).
https://www.rct.uk/collection/2002369/princess-elizabeth-engaged-10-july-1947
In the engagement interview, I notice that Prince William refers to Catherine as 'Kate', but he now refers to her as Catherine in public. I suspect that that's one of techniques he uses to separate their public life from their personal life, as well as respecting her given name in formal situations.
On their wedding anniversary, I'm going to settle down and watch the wedding video in full. On the day, we were experiencing aftershocks from our devastating February earthquake, and I was on edge, which made it difficult to fully enjoy the wedding.
Misty
Wednesday 18th of November 2020
I was driving home from work when I heard the engagement announcement on the radio and I had to pull over and stop the car as I was so excited! Doesn’t seem like 10 years ago. It’s lovely to see what a happy and successful partnership they are.
Lynn from CA
Wednesday 18th of November 2020
Lovely post. I didn't remember the necklace or earrings, so thanks for sharing. I guess I was too dazzled over the re-appearance of "the" ring! Has Kate ever worn that necklace again?
admin
Wednesday 18th of November 2020
I don’t think so, Lynn, at least not that I recall. ?
ElizaMo
Wednesday 18th of November 2020
I have the pleasure of making this my first comment on the famous Issa as I wasn’t here for the first post, I’m nothing but a latecomer and a novice, don't ya know. Shout-out to anyone who has made it all the way through, whether reading or commenting. Back then, I thought I was too grand a creature for fan pages as the ones I saw were pretty horrific. Took a while to tumble that this was the brainy site for all things Kate!! And that I was lucky enough to be allowed to take part.
I well remember the engagement announcement as I’d casually turned on the news only for these two to step out into that blaze of flashbulbs. I’m afraid I was never the biggest fan of this dress as I never got on well with wrap dresses myself, and had long ago decided they were impractical as they always seem to work loose. They have always had the look of a housecoat to me.
But of course, this colour was lovely on Kate, and matched her wonderful ring, and she has such a terrific figure she makes things look good almost regardless. This is the first I knew the pretty jewellery was Tiffany and the shoes were Episode. I like that the Episode platform is more discreet in black suede as I’m not fond of platform soles either, though I’m a sucker for an almond toe :))
Overjoyed to see we l have another WKW calendar, I was wondering what would happen with so many lockdown video engagements and not all of best quality for print purposes. To have a ten-year anniversary edition is a wizard idea, and I’m looking forward very much to seeing the one I have on order.
Bonnie
Thursday 19th of November 2020
Oh ElizaMo, How wonderful that you have elevated all of us, when you call WKW the brainy site. We can now all collectively think of ourselves as the intelligent fans of Kate. Actually I've never thought of this as a fan site. We like Kate but most of us do not hesitate to say if we dislike an outfit. Susan researches the clothing and the events in such depth. She moderates the comments to weed out all the internet trolls and she works hard to keep all things civil. This is a community that admires Kate and respects each other. The fact that you think we are brainy is a bonus!